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Topic: Is the Murano market looking up? (Read 4311 times)

It's interesting how talking about something influences how one sees things. I haven't bought much Murano for a while--busy buying Czech and Scandi. In fact, the only piece I've bought in the last three months was an opalescent Galliano Ferro bird for $9.99. However, in the last three days, I've bought seven pieces. Nothing earth shattering, but some FT, I hope some Seguso, perhaps a BT, but all pretty solid, at least second shelf Murano. One FT piece was a pinwheel zanfirico bowl in maroon/chocolate for $30.00. I noticed a huge FT console bowl going for $56, a blue Barbini basket for $46 and a pink one with no offers at $30.00. A signed Venini fazolletto was about $100.00. True a Venini inciso piece went for over $700.00, but the reasonable and even rarer high prices are the exception. I'm going to pay closer attention from now one. It still seems like a good time to stock up. BTW, three of the pieces were under $14.00. I worry about postage now more than prices.

I have been selling a lot of nice Italian pieces over the last year some quite heavy , i always get emails re postage to USA and then get hardly any bids from the USA , but at least the MVM Cappellin / Venini i am selling at the moment is very light weight glass so maybe that will go Stateside . jp stgeorgio.2007 : :angel: thup:

I've never bought anything from overseas but I was very interested in a Franco Moretti vase not too long ago that was in the United Kingdom but I contacted the seller and the customs charges were going to be about half of the price of the vase so I never did bid on the vase. Shucks! :cry: I really wanted it too. I too worry about shipping but I am willing to pay a reasonable amount if I really want the item but the customs charges overseas I really worry about. Can someone please explain the customs charges a little better to me and maybe I want shy away so much to the overseas glass so much anymore?

Tami, we're lucky in the USA. We don't have any custom charges. No import or export fees. All we have to pay right now is the price and shipping. The seller doesn't add custom charges. They are added by the countries the package is sent to and are paid by the buyer when he/she receives the package. I wish all of the countries had free trade. Some European countries have to pay 25-50% in import fees and taxes.

I can't explain US customs duty to you; in fact, I can't even explain Canadian. It seems incredibly arbitrary, sometimes I pay it and sometimes I don't. I've never paid duty on anything from the UK, but usually pay when it's from Germany. I seldom pay when it's the cheapest of the USPS services, but always pay for UPS. I just see it as the fickle hand of the glass god. It's never as high as even 25%, though.

Thanks so much David and Anita. The seller was trying to explain it to me but wasn't sure if he was telling me correctly or not so I wanted to be sure before I bought anything overseas that is why I shyed away. I should have asked on the forum but I didn't. Oh well.

I buy a fair bit from the USA but the shipping charges are so variable it kills it. For a normal first class mail it is around 13-19 us dollars up to a weight limit of 3Ibs I think. I have had quotes for small items I am interested in for up to $64. Conversely I got a quote for $16.70 for a 8" vase I wanted and bought and this amount is what was on the postage mark. :chky:

Why would people selling stuff overseas think that we want it sent Fedex? I don't know anyone who needs this stuff in 4 days from the other side of the planet.

I have never had to pay any customs charges YET! Let's hope Australian customs dont read this thread.

There are some odd things happening and my friend who is an antiques dealer reckons the great deals that were around last year have dried up as people are not pressed to sell antiques, they can just hold onto them until the market picks up.

I am in USA and many, many dealers are getting out of the business all together. Shipping goes up again in January and online as well as brick and mortar shops it is a gamble at best to many of them. Pros and cons of that in many ways. Everyone wants a deal but when it is so competitive the value and history of antiques gets kicked to the curb I find it personally terrible.

Yes Sandy it is awful but it must be a temporary thing. THese things are not replaceable and they were made with great skill and art. Eventually all this will balance as the demand for good antiques takes off in a non stop growth of humanity. May not be in our lifetime.

A friend of mine who is an antique dealer of 30+ years and came from a family of antique dealers is currently surviving on his cooking skills and the occasional profitable deal. I think that says it all. Still he will not sell the good stuff (Including his murano) he has until the market picks up.

I buy a fair bit from the USA but the shipping charges are so variable it kills it. For a normal first class mail it is around 13-19 us dollars up to a weight limit of 3Ibs I think. I have had quotes for small items I am interested in for up to $64. Conversely I got a quote for $16.70 for a 8" vase I wanted and bought and this amount is what was on the postage mark...

Shipping is variable. A lot of it is because of padding. Most, however, is because first class international is a very risky way to ship. It cannot be tracked or insured. So if someone pays using PayPal, all the buyer has to do is report it as not received. There is no confirmation number, so no proof it was sent. PayPal immediately takes the money out of the seller's account. Unfortunately, there are some people who abuse the PayPal buyer protection, so the person who sends first class is taking on risk. Personally, I will send less expensive things first class, but anything over $100 has to go priority mail or better. The cost of priority mail is outrageous, but provides the seller with some protection. There are third-party insurers for first class, but it can be time consuming and iffy. It would be nice if everyone in the world was honest. Postage would be so much cheaper.